Diesel dispute
Misleading instructions. Unreasonable tax inspectors. No wonder farmers struggle to claim diesel rebates. As all farmers know, a diesel fuel rebate is allowable in terms of the Customs and Excise Act. Yet many farmers have recently been hit with reversals or clawbacks of the rebate with accompanying penalties and interest.
©budabar via 123RF
SARS auditors are focusing on the logbooks kept by farmers and rebates are being disallowed because of an insistence on slavish adherence to logbook ‘rules’.
Up until recently, 20% of a rebate could be disallowed if record-keeping was not up to standard. In other words, some discretion was allowed, as per Part 3, Note 6(h)(vii), to Schedule 6 of the Customs and Excise Act. Now, however, the logbook is regarded as the sole document for ascertaining the diesel rebate. The question is: does the Commissioner still have the discretion to award the rebate in the face of alleged non-compliance?
Read the full story on Farmer’s Weekly.